I read and hear comments quite often, how many people believe there are different interpretations for passages in the Bible. I agree! No doubt there are hundreds of interpretations. It is quite evident that many people today, particularly those in teaching roles, are re-constructing the Scriptures to meet the needs and desires of today’s society and culture. They will do whatever it takes to bring more people into their particular church or set of beliefs. It's no wonder we have so many interpretations. Paul had a little something to say about this when he wrote his inspired letter to Timothy…

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

I believe it is evident that people will follow false interpretations of the Scriptures because it sounds good and it fits their wants and desires. I can't help but to agree that there are many interpretations... HOWEVER, only ONE CAN BE RIGHT! We must remember that GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION. More than one interpretation does in fact create confusion, thus it is not of God…

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

God is no doubt the "author" of the Bible, but in no way does He intend for it to be as confusing as so many people make it. To say that different people can have different meanings and more than one of them be right would be calling God a liar. One reason there are so many different interpretations is because people are not willing to study the Bible for themselves. Most people learn what they learn from other people and before they even read the Bible they are tainted towards a particular doctrine of man. These people pick out certain passages to fit their own beliefs or doctrines which they have learned over the years. They skip over the rest, ignoring much of the truth. I know, I did the same thing for quite a number of years.

There is no easy way to conquer understanding the Bible... it will not come to us overnight. We cannot be lazy and expect to know what we need to know about the Bible and what God desires from us. However, we must conclude that there can only be the same truth for everyone... it is certainly the way God intended it to be and Scripture itself proves this to us. The truth is before us if we truly desire to know it. Ultimately it comes down to our personal desire to have a true and meaningful relationship with God. Do we really want to know the truth? The following passage proves to us that it is possible for everyone to understand the Bible in the same way with the same meaning. If it were not possible then Paul would have had no reason to encourage it.

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Paul urges us all to "speak the same thing". He further wrote that we should have “no divisions” among us so that we can be "PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER" in "the same mind" and in “the same judgment". We should be in agreement as to what the Word of God is telling us.

There cannot be different meanings for the same passages. There can only be the TRUTH.

2 Peter 3:15-18 Think of our Lord's patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures. And so, dear friends, since you already know these things, continually be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of lawless people, lest you fall from your secure position. Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.

The "ignorant and unstable" will distort the Scriptures to their own destruction. If we do not study the Bible then we will be ignorant ourselves because we will be ignoring the Scriptures, thus also causing us to be unstable. Let’s study all of the Bible and interpret it as God desires us to… with like minds and in truth.

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In Christ,
brother Sonnie

Bible Study

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
KJV

What happens if we stop eating? Our bodies get hungry and start to weaken. If we go without food for long enough our bodies will eventually die. Our physical bodies depend on a regular diet of healthy food in order to grow, mature and maintain. We have a spiritual body that needs to be nourished regularly just like our fleshly body does. If we neglect to feed our spiritual body it will not be strong and healthy, it will be weak and vulnerable and if starved long enough, will eventually die just like our fleshly bodies would.

One of the ways we feed our spiritual bodies is by studying the Bible which is the written word of God. The Bible reveals God's will and instructions to us. We are expected to search for God's will and to obey it. Obedience to the will of God is the most important part of the faithful Christian life. Hebrews 5:9 teaches us that eternal life is for the obedient.

The Bible was written over a period of about 1700 years by around 40 different authors. The men who wrote down the word of God were inspired by God to write what was written, (2 Peter 1:21). The men who wrote down God's word were separated by centuries of time and sometimes thousands of miles. They were from all walks of life. Many were prophets, some were fishermen, doctors, evangelists, tentmakers and even Kings. Throughout the Bible there is a single consistent teaching. King Solomon summed it all up for us in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

This is the central message of the Bible from the beginning and it continues straight through to the end of the book of Revelation. Those who disobeyed God were punished, and those who obeyed Him were blessed. It is the same for us today, (Romans 2:7-10).

So we learn that we must be obedient to God, and since His instructions are written in the Bible, we know that it is through a study of the Bible that we learn what it is we are supposed to do in order to live as faithful Christians. In 2 Timothy 2:15 we are commanded to study in order to show ourselves approved. We are expected to know God's will. We are expected to study and search for it. Knowing God's instructions for us will keep us from being ashamed. How would it look on judgment day when we are standing before God giving an account of our lives and we don't even know what He told us? Would not knowing God's instructions be something to be ashamed of?

We are also commanded to rightly divide the word of truth. "Rightly dividing" means "correctly handling" God's word. God's word is truth, (John 17:17), and there is no lie that is of the truth, (1 John 2:21), so we learn that all of God's word is truth and it contains no lies. If there are no lies in God's truth, then there can be no contradictions.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The Bible is a big book. How do we "rightly divide" it? How do we correctly apply the teachings to our lives? First of all, the Bible is divided into two sections. The Old Testament and the New Testament. Testament is another word for covenant or promise. God made a covenant with the Israelites after He freed them from their Egyptian bondage. God gave them a law to follow through Moses, and they were to follow that law until the coming of Jesus. This law is found in the Old Testament and is usually referred to as "the law" or the "law of Moses" in scripture. The New Testament or "New Covenant" teaches us of the coming of the Kingdom of God which is the church, and put an end to the practices and ordinances of the "law of Moses". The New Testament also teaches us the "gospel" or "good news" of our salvation.

The law of Moses was temporary and was only designed to bring the world to Christ. The Israelites offered animal sacrifices to God for atonement of their sins, and they labored under the bondage of these sins and under the bondage of the "law of Moses". When Jesus came He established a better covenant, established on better promises, (Hebrews 8:6). When this happened, the old covenant was taken out of the way, nailed to His cross, (Colossians 2:14), and abolished, (Ephesians 2:15). Jesus forever delivered us from the old covenant to serve in the newness of spirit, (Romans 7:6), which we find our instructions for in the New Testament.

In Paul's letter to the Galatians we learn that some of the people in the Lord's church at Galatia were trying to force the Christians to keep on observing some of the "law of Moses". Paul warned them sternly about this. He told them in Galatians 5:4, that any who tried to be justified by the "old law" had fallen from grace which is what we as faithful and obedient Christians are under today. They couldn't have it both ways.

So we learn from the Bible, that we are to follow what is written in the New Testament and bind it to our Christian lives. Part of "rightly dividing" the word of truth means understanding that we live under the new covenant and not under the old. When it comes to decisions of doctrine, we take the new covenant over the old covenant every time.

So the next question on how to "rightly divide" is: How much of the new covenant are we to follow? The answer to that question is easily found in Matthew 28:19-20

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Before Jesus ascended back to live with God in heaven He commanded His disciples to teach everybody on earth to observe everything whatsoever He commanded. So we learn from this scripture that we are to be taught to obey everything that applies to us. And if we want to live our lives as faithful Christians we will obey that teaching and likewise teach others the same. The New Testament, rightfully divided and correctly applied is where we find our instruction on how to live as New Testament Christians.

So now that we know that the New Testament is where we find our instructions for Christianity, how is it "rightly divided"? Can the New Testament be incorrectly used today? So how do we learn how to handle the word of God correctly? How do we find the truth in God's word? Following is a simple set of guidelines designed to help guide us in our search for the whole truth.

Every passage of the word of God is to be understood in the light of other passages bearing on the same subject. God's will on any subject is to be understood in the light of ALL that is written about it, (Matthew 4:4).
For example, we are taught in scripture that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, (John 3:16), but is that all that the Bible has to say about salvation? Jesus also teaches us in Luke 13:3 that unless we repent we will all perish. So if we have faith but we fail to repent what happens? Jesus also teaches in Matthew 10:32 that we must either confess Him before men or He will will deny us before God, the Father. So what if we have faith and we repent, but we fail to confess Jesus before men? Will Jesus not do what He said He would do? Jesus also teaches us in Mark 16:16 that those who believe and are baptized will be saved. So what if we have faith, repent and confess Jesus before men and we fail to be baptized? Will we be saved? Jesus commanded New Testament Christians in Revelation 2:10 to be faithful unto death and He would give them the crown of life. What if we believe, repent, confess, and be baptized but do not live as faithful, obedient Christians unto death? We have to consider all of what was taught about salvation in order to understand what God's complete will for us is. We cannot obey part of what Jesus taught and expect to receive the gift of eternal life.

No passage of scripture is to be understood in such a way that the result would permit the circumvention of the commandments of God. (Hebrews 5:9)
Eternal life is given to the obedient. Eternal destruction is faced by the disobedient, (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). We cannot use scripture to justify disobedience to God. God's word is truth, therefore it can contain no lies. For example, we are taught in scripture that those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, (Romans 10:13). If we teach anybody that all we have to do is say "Lord Lord" and we don't have to repent or confess or be baptized, then we have taught that it is ok to circumvent or ignore the commandments of God, be disobedient and still be saved. We must not use God's word to avoid doing God's will.

No passage of scripture is to be understood in such a way that the result is a direct conflict with other scripture bearing on the same subject (2 Timothy 3:16).
A conflict occurs when one or more statements bearing on the same subject cannot be true. All scripture is given by inspiration, God's word it truth, (John 17:17) therefore it cannot contain any lies. We cannot have an understanding of any scripture that would cause God to lie in another. For example, In John 3:16 Jesus taught us that those who believe in Him would have everlasting life. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said that only those who do the will of God our Father will enter into Heaven. So if someone believes that all we have to do is believe what Jesus said in John 3:16 and not believe what he said in Matthew 7:21 then what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 cannot be the truth thus causing a direct conflict between the two scriptures and we have caused Jesus Christ to be a liar. Which brings us to the last guideline.

No passage of scripture can be understood in such a way that the result is a violation of the righteous nature of God (2 Timothy 2:13).
There are a number of passages that teach us of the righteous nature of God. He never varies or turns from His nature (James 1:17, 2 Timothy 2:13). He cannot lie (Titus 1:2); He will not prefer one person over another (Romans 2:11); He is just and fair to all (Deuteronomy 32:4, Isaiah 45:21, Ezekiel 18:29-30); Jealous of His children (Exodus 20:5); Longsuffering (2 Peter 3:9); Compassionate and merciful (James 5:11); Faithful to His word (1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13, 2 Corinthians 1:18); Full of Goodness to those who serve Him and severe to those who fall and remain so (Romans 11:22).

We cannot understand scripture in such a way that would violate God's righteous nature. Scripture can never make God to be as liar, or to be unjust, or to favor anyone above another. What applies to one Christian must apply to them all.

So keeping these basic things in mind as we study the word of God, we can be assured that we have "rightly divided" the word of truth. The next steps are to discover through a study of God's word just what his will for us is so that we can correctly apply it to our Christian lives today.

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"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." 1 John 3:18-19

The church of Christ at Granby

I believe, that's how God has chosen to reveal His Truth. Look at all the denominations. If you look at Christianity as a big Pie, and see all the denominations as slices in the pie, you will find that God's Truth is in the whole pie, and that each slice teaches only part of God's Truth. Why? Because ONLY those who have Faith, not knowledge, can enter the Kingdom of God. The complexity of views of the various denominations assure that we must come to God by Faith alone, no matter the denomination.

However, it's simple to know if one's interpretation is correct. If it agrees with God's Holy Word, true Science, and History, it's as close to the One Truth as is Humanly possible. The fault is Not with God's Truth, but with man's ability to understand it, for His thoughts are far above man's thoughts.

God Bless

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Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1

I cannot look at it that way. Note that when a pie is created, the creator puts in the ingredients for making ONE type of pie. He does not put plums into an apple pie nor does he put oranges into a pecan pie. There is only ONE church and that is scriptural. But what did man do...come along and put different ingredients into the perfect "pie" and the true pie is not there anymore.

As far as teaching...one must NOT teach part of the truth BUT the WHOLE truth...I cannot be like I will go here for this part and there for that part. If I am in the ONE true church of Christ, then I will get it ALL and not just part. And the one thing you said "if it is close as humanly possible..."? It is possible with God that we will be just as the church of the first century...if we just simply follow His Word and not add or take away from it.

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Romans 16:16 1 Thess. 5:17 1 Thess. 5:22 1 Tim. 6:12 2 Tim 2:15

I agree that all the denominations teach only part of God's truth. That's why it is important to seek the one true church. They body of saved Christians who teach all of God's truth.

Really? But that's not what the Bible says. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 that ONLY those who do the will of God can enter the kingdom of heaven. The Hebrew writer says that Jesus is the author of eternal salvation unto all who obey Him. Clearly there is something more to faith than a simple mental believe in Jesus and the Gospel.


1 Timothy 2:3-4
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

There is no way we can come to know the truth without knowledge of it.

The complexity of views of the various denominations assure that we cannot come to God through any of them. The denominations were all started by men after the first century. Jesus teaches us that every root not planted by heavenly father shall be rooted up (Matthew 15:13). Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keepeth the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. (Psalm 127).

Denominationalism is condemned in scripture.


I agree with this. It is very simple to know if one's correct. In fact the Bible tells us how to know.

1 John 3:18-19
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

1 John 3:24
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Those who love and obey God know they are of the truth.

I see that you are new here and have not posted much. I invite you to stay around and put us to the test. See if we are of the truth, teaching only what is in scripture. I think you may be surprised to learn that there is indeed the body of Christ out there. Undivided, unified and teaching only what can be supported from scripture. All of it, nothing more and nothing less.

You see, within the pages of the New Testament we can see the pattern of living the early Christians followed. We can study them and learn how they were saved. Following only the word of God, taking nothing away and adding nothing to it, believing what they believed, live how they lived, worship how they worshipped, etc, etc, we can be just what they were. They were Christians.

That is how you know you are of the one true faith. Study with us. Prove us, test us. Try us. Compare us to the Bible. The kingdom of God is like a treasure hid in a field. Treasure has to be looked for and found. Matthew 13:44

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"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." 1 John 3:18-19

The church of Christ at Granby

One thing, Hiramabbi, what do you mean by "true Science" and capitalize the "s" in science?

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Romans 16:16 1 Thess. 5:17 1 Thess. 5:22 1 Tim. 6:12 2 Tim 2:15

I believe each Christian has his own measure of information. I do not question the work of the Holy Spirit, for His ways are above my ways. Each Christian learns what he should know, as the Holy Spirit leads him. That’s why I love to see other Christian's views, for that is the way we learn. The Holy Spirit reveals one thing to me and something else to another. Listen to the Old Songs, and read the words, and you will see the Holy Spirit in action.

That's also why I seek the agreement of every other discovered Truth, to measure against God's Holy Word. There's NOT one Truth for Christians and another one for Science. There is Only 1 Truth, and every other discovered Truth MUST agree with God's Truth or we have Not found the 1 Truth. When we all get together, in Heaven, we will come to know All of the Truth. Jesus told us "I am the Truth". I can hardly wait to know God's Truth, face to face.


God Bless

__________________
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1

It's called the word of God. Also known as the Bible. We are commanded to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

that is a command directly from inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit leads us today through the inspired word. Not directly.

If you want to see the Holy Spirit in action, you have to read the Bible.

If we are have any kind of fruitful discussion we are going to have to agree to consult the one unchanging authoritative standard. You seem to recognize the necessity of measuring against God's word. That is a good platform for us to work from.


Blessings

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"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." 1 John 3:18-19

The church of Christ at Granby

Yes, God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Is. 55:8-9). But that does not mean that the Spirit reveals something to you and another ‘something’ to me. If that were true then that would make God a “respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).
The Holy Spirit speaks through His word (1 Tim. 4:1). God communicates with man through WORDS by “combining spiritual {thoughts} with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:13). And His WORDS when studied will teach man to be “perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

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BVidlar

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him” (Psalm 8:4)?

I moved the last couple of post to a new thread, since they were off topic and deserve a thread to their own.

__________________
In Christ,
brother Sonnie